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Wellness programming supports healthy choices for Lakers
June 08, 2021
Recreation has always been a major part of the campus community at Grand Valley State University. It is also something that when discussed, most people understand what it means. But as its name suggests, Recreation & Wellness is more than recreation. It is also wellness, especially student wellness. But for many, they don’t know what wellness is.
The World Health Organization describes wellness as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease.” If that did not help clarify things, don’t worry. That is why RecWell’s student wellness staff and resources are available.
“We offer presentations on sexual health, nutrition, and general wellness topics like the eight dimensions of wellness, resting, stress management and more,” said Katie Jourdan, Student Health Promotions Coordinator for RecWell.
Student wellness and its importance has been on the minds of administrators for years. But Jourdan’s arrival in 2019 formalized it as a critical part of the student experience at GVSU. Jourdan and WIT have been able to successfully introduce programming and provide a comprehensive, wellness website for students. All of the programming Jourdan and WIT facilitate is influenced by the eight dimensions of wellness, which help people make conscious decisions in their everyday life.
The dimensions of wellness include: emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual.
WIT is the Wellness Information Team. These peer educators are students who have various majors, backgrounds and reasons to become a peer educator. Along with Jourdan, they are new to the campus community, but have already made a huge impact on the conversation around wellness. One of the WIT team members says it's important for students to prioritize, not sacrifice their wellness habits.
“Students should care about their wellness because it can enhance every aspect of their lives,” said Ryleigh Emelander, a Master of Public Health student and Health Promotion assistant for Jourdan and WIT. “As students, it's very easy to feel overwhelmed with balancing school, work, extracurricular activities, and other responsibilities; often, it feels like there is not enough time in a day. This means it's easy to prioritize some areas and neglect others.”
“People talk about sacrificing sleep, mental health, and other areas of wellness in an effort to become "successful". However, prioritizing your wellbeing is what allows you to reach your full potential,” added Emelander.
Program requests and presentations took off during the Winter 2021 semester, and will be back next fall. Student groups, housing communities and academic classes can request a presentation from WIT. Additionally, new for the fall 2021 semester will be free wellness coaching for students, which will provide the support of a trained coach to help students reach their wellness goals. Information will be available on the student wellness website.
Sexual health is an area that RecWell currently oversees. While discussions about sex can be awkward and uncomfortable for many, it is important there is a space on campus for these discussions. In addition to information and discussions, RecWell also offers a free condom program, which delivers packets to on-campus housing for free. RecWell partners with the local health department to offer free monthly STI testing on campus. Jourdan understands it’s taboo, but also knows the importance of education around the topic.
“I am excited that we are becoming a trusted resource for sexual health information. I know that talking about sexual health is often avoided in our society and that RecWell may be sharing information that is “taboo.” Our approach is to engage in evidence-informed, sex-positive, inclusive and empowering messages to all students so that we can reduce shame and stigma while supporting students in making the best decisions for themselves.”
Press Pause is a department campaign which focuses on bringing awareness to the importance of slowing down, taking breaks and recharging. This year’s campaign provided resources about self-care, sleep, rest and balance. It also emphasized the importance of “unplugging” from one's life on technology and challenged people to find the benefits unplugging has to their physical and mental health.
In addition to structured programming and resources, WIT also offers a service called Ask WIT. Through this form, students can submit anonymous questions to WIT asking questions that might be relevant to them, or hard to find on the website. The answer to these questions can also be found on the website. Students can also choose to provide their email, and a member of WIT will reach out to them directly.
“Ask WIT is a great resource to get reliable information about wellness-related topics, and to have your questions answered without judgement,” said Emelander. “The WIT peer educators are happy to help!”
Understanding your wellness goals is much more than exercising, eating healthy and checking in on your mental health. While nutrition and exercise are important, they mean different things to everyone. People are also much more than what we eat and how we move. The eight dimensions help students understand all aspects of their life, and Recreation & Wellness provides an abundance of resources to help its fellow Lakers along this wellness journey.
“We seek to help make student lives healthier while at GVSU and beyond,” Jourdan said.“Our WIT Peer Educators are here to serve students.”
Article by: Mitch Eastlick
This article is part of our summer series on RecWell offerings. To see all our articles, sign up for a our newsletter. Other topics this summer have included club sports & outdoor adventures. For more information on RecWell go to gvsu.edu/rec.